Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 25 - Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Making Peace with the Ogre God

FOUR DAYS AFTER THE BATTLE, the group that had gone to the Second City of Irelil as envoys came back. They brought us a reply from the Biheiril Kingdom. It was all written in a letter that went on at length about this and that.

“The king says he’ll meet with you. He said that if you do something about the force on Ogre Island, he’ll consider the matter of the Superd.”

That was the general gist of it. It at least sounded like he was likely to allow the village to continue to exist. Despite the speed of their return and the messy handwriting—like it had been scrawled in a hurry—the seal was genuine. The force on Ogre Island would be Moore and the others, left there by Atofe. They’d taken all the villagers on the island hostage and barricaded themselves there, on Atofe’s orders. At this stage, it didn’t look like the Ogre God was going to go beat them into submission… I guessed that meant we’d be talking about how to clean it up.

“…All right.”

It wasn’t like I had any pressing requests other than the Superd. I did have to ask about Geese, but that was all.

“Then let’s go.”

I’d take a few Superd with me. We still had negotiations to go through, but if the Superd were going to keep living in the Biheiril Kingdom, they ought to reveal themselves so the citizens would accept them. Otherwise, they could end up in another situation like this. It was also possible citizens’ groups who saw the Superd might stage a protest. Much as I’d like to have a ceremony where the Ogre God and the Superd village head shook hands…

Anyway, while I was musing about that, I chose my team members to take to the capital. First, in case of battle, I’d bring Eris, Atofe, Sandor, and Ruijerd. Cliff of the Millis Church would be negotiator, and Elinalise would accompany him. Finally, we’d take two Superd warriors with us. The rest would stay behind in case the village was attacked. They weren’t team members, but we’d also return the prisoners. To tell you the truth, the king hadn’t asked for their return. It was tragic, but I was a man of my word. Well, I say that, but it was always possible negotiations would break down. I’d leave one behind as a bargaining chip.

With that, I went to the hut where the prisoners were staying. The two of them sat inside in dazed silence. They looked at me with suspicion in their eyes.

“How did you like the Superd village?” I asked. There was silence. “It’s a pretty nice place, don’t you think? Lots of pretty women and happy children. The food’s a bit heavy on vegetables, but it still tastes good. The warriors are a bit brusque, but they’re not hostile to humans. Have you understood that?”

For the few days they’d been here, the prisoners were free to move around the village. I made sure they were guarded, of course, and they’d surrendered their weapons. In order to check they weren’t in disguise we’d stripped them, but apart from that, they’d been met with hospitality. After I’d emphasized to the Superd that they were to look after the prisoners like guests, they’d been kind to them. We hadn’t kept them tied up or anything. They walked around the village as they pleased, and we even let them go outside the village so long as they had a Superd guard with them. I wasn’t worried about them escaping; I was worried they might get attacked by Invisible Wolves. While they were out, the Superd had hunted the Invisible Wolves for the past two days, and we’d shown the prisoners the kind of monsters they were. They got the same food the villagers ate. There was still some concern about the plague, but there was nothing else to eat, so we had to make do. For the time being, we gave them Sokas tea to drink with their meals.

“…I guess I realized we’d been misled by rumors.” The knights had looked despairing when we captured them, but now I was pleased to see they felt at ease.

I still hadn’t told them all the great things there were to know about the Superd, but they were bound to leave with a good impression regardless. I’d keep one of them here to enjoy himself for a bit longer. It was scary to think that the moment I was gone, he might pull his mask off and declare, “Haha! I was the Man-God’s minion all along!” To be fair, though, we’d chosen them at random, and we did a thorough physical check when we brought them back to the village. Orsted and Cliff had taken a good look at them and vouched for them, and I was leaving a few of my allies here… It should be fine.

“We’re going to negotiate with the kingdom, so I’m bringing one of you home with me. I’d prefer to leave the higher-ranked one of you here, if that’s all right.”

“All right.” One of the knights nodded and the other stood up. They just did what I said.

It’d suck if it turned out that they had some sort of beef with each other and this guy just abandoned the other one. But the king had, in theory, accepted my conditions. There was nothing left but to meet and discuss it.

With that, we set off from the Superd Village.

***

Another four days passed. Negotiations with the king came off without a hitch. The king of the Biheiril Kingdom had been terrified. He held himself like a king, but he watched my every word and gesture. Eris, Ruijerd, and Atofe’s presence had him jumpy. It was most obvious when he had to deal with Atofe. Hell, she made me jumpy. She was scary.

This is what the king said: All that had happened was that the Sword God and the North God had threatened him. He used a lot of pompous euphemisms, but that was his explanation. I had him remove all his rings and allow me to use the Stone of Absorption just in case, but it looked like Geese hadn’t changed places with him.

But Geese had been involved. We’d been conned.

In any case, after some hardball negotiating where I dropped the prisoner’s name, the king said that so long as we did something about the army on Ogre Island, he’d give full recognition to the Superd. It wasn’t like we were pressing for anything unreasonable like massive reparations or land. All we were asking was recognition for the people who’d lived in this land from the start, and who’d helped the kingdom.

On top of that, launching the hunting party, which had brought about our current situation, had been Geese acting on his own authority. I guess all the king could do was sigh and accept it.

I think the decisive factor was that if he turned down our request here, that would mean severing ties with the ogres. It would look like the Biheiril Kingdom was abandoning the ogre prisoners. This country relied on its close ties with the ogres, so cutting ties with them would spell its end.

***

With the negotiations over, we made our way to the Third City of Heirelil. It was very far away, a port city from which you could faintly make out an island like a volcano. I would wait here while Sandor and Atofe went over to the island to negotiate, serving as my envoys to Ogre Island. I wanted to go too but ran up against the fact that the Version One couldn’t go on a boat. There weren’t any boats that could take its weight.

It was concluded that, since we didn’t know what the Ogre God would do, I should stick close to the Version One. If negotiations with the Ogre God went ahead without any issues and we freed the hostages on Ogre Island, our business in the Biheiril Kingdom would be concluded.

The Superd, by the way, had gotten permission to live away from the Ravine of the Earthwyrm, closer to the entrance to the forest. We still didn’t know what had caused the plague, but this ought to get it further away from them. Moving would take a bit of work, but my involvement there was concluded. Though I still couldn’t discard the possibility that, after everything, we’d end up fighting the Ogres…

The Sword God and the North God were gone. There had to be a chance we could win. Even if Geese was holding some of his forces in reserve, we could always return to the forest and regroup if things looked dicey.

I thought all this while at the top of a lighthouse, looking at the ocean with Eris and Ruijerd along as bodyguards.

It felt good to see the ocean after so long. It was broad and vast. The great field of water extended out under the clear sky, and across it, beyond the horizon, you could see an island. That was Ogre Island. Based on the name, I’d thought it might be ogre-shaped, but it was just a classic volcano island. A plume of smoke curled up from the mountain’s peak. From here, it seemed imposing and unsettling, but not sinister. It looked rustic, if anything, like some place that’d have hot springs. I guessed it was just called Ogre Island because the ogres lived there.

I hadn’t climbed a lighthouse just to stare at the ocean. No, I was looking for something. There was a lone boat approaching Ogre Island—the boat Atofe and Sandor were on. From the lighthouse, I would use the Eye of Distant Sight to keep an eye on the negotiations. If things went south, or the Ogre God started rampaging, or Geese popped up at the negotiation site, the idea was to blast our foes with large-scale magic from here.

It was a plan that could easily end up involving innocent ogres on Ogre Island and ruining our negotiations with the Biheiril Kingdom…but if Geese actually came, I’d fire.

“…Hey, Rudeus. Can you see them?”

“I can. Want me to describe it?”

“No need.”

With a wry smile at Eris, I resumed my surveillance. Using the Eye of Distant Sight, I could only see part of the island, the shore. People were gathered at a particularly easy-to-see spot there. That was our chosen negotiation site. On the shore, I spied one ogre far bigger than the others—Ogre God Marta. Nearby stood several ogres who looked like warriors. They must have fought a few battles because several of them were wrapped in bandages. Facing them, in black armor, was a group of creepy knights. They were Atofe’s personal guard. Moore was among them. Maybe they had a few injuries themselves, but from what I could see, they were unharmed. Sure enough, their strength was overwhelmingly superior to that of the ogre warriors. Still, things might go differently if Ogre God Marta joined the fight, but they had taken the villagers as hostages. His hands were tied. Behind Atofe’s personal guard I saw what had to be the hostages—around five ogre women and children, tied up. If fighting broke out, there would be casualties. This might get messy.

I watched, heart in my throat. When Atofe and Sandor arrived, half of the hostages were released immediately. The Ogre God and Sandor discussed something, then the gathering broke up. What they’d talked about, I didn’t know, but the Ogre God looked dejected. The biggest obstacle with the Eye of Distant Sight was that you couldn’t hear voices.

***

“Rudeus!” I was asleep at the inn in the Third City of Heirelil when Eris’s voice woke me.

“…What’s up, honey? Lemme sleep a little longer.” I reached out to squeeze her breasts, but my hand was knocked aside. Boo, you’re so mean! Like, that’s violence. I’m the one who’s in the wrong, I guess… I touched, even though I’m supposed to be celibate.

“They’re here!”

“They?”

“Them!” Eris yelled, then ran from the room. I wished she would stop talking with her feelings. A rational person like me could never work out what she meant from vague words.

“Them…?”

Still not understanding, I got up. I rubbed my eyes, blurry with sleep, and looked out the window. There, I saw a group with dark red hair gathered in front of the inn.

“—Them!” I rushed out of the room down to the first floor.

The Ogre God sat, legs crossed, in front of the inn. The young ogres standing around him were watching him with pained expressions. Facing them were Eris and Ruijerd, weapons drawn and ready. When I stepped forward the crowd parted to clear a path. I walked toward the Ogre God. Once there, Sandor whispered in my ear.

“The Ogre God wants to make peace. It didn’t feel like a trap, so I brought him.”

“…All right.” I wasn’t going to say no if he said he wouldn’t fight any more. Who knew what Sandor expected, but it didn’t seem anything like a Geese scheme. From what I’d seen, Eris, Ruijerd, and Atofe weren’t stanced up, either. I guessed something had happened that convinced them to drop their guards.

The Ogre God glowered at me, then in a searching tone, said, “You, chief?”

“Yes. I’m Rudeus Greyrat. I’m in charge.”

“Me Marta.” I bowed and Marta, still sitting, bowed back. “Want talk.”

“…I have some questions of my own.” Copying the Ogre God, I sat down on the ground and crossed my legs. He’s in the same pose, so I hope it won’t come across as rude… I thought, just as a young ogre beside the Ogre God promptly knelt beside me and placed a wide, shallow cup on the ground before both me and the Ogre God. They were sake cups.

The cups were filled right away, mine with what seemed to be a local spirit. Into the Ogre God’s cup went a black liquid. That was probably soy sauce.

Between the soy sauce and the miso, the culture here seemed like Japan’s.

“Drink,” he said.

“Thank you.” The Ogre God downed his drink, and I copied him. It might be polite to drain your glass…but it’d be bad if I got drunk, so I stopped at a mouthful.

Now, where should I start? I suppose asking about Geese. If he’s a disciple.

Master Ogre God didn’t look all that clever. I’d have to make my explanation of difficult matters simple, easy to understand. Gently, like when I taught something to Eris.

“I hear story.” The Ogre God hesitated a moment, then said, “Demon King attack village. Steal food. Not forgive. But no-fighters all alive.” He looked at the ogres around us.

All alive…? If there was any fighting, no matter how minor, surely there were deaths…? Oh, he must mean no noncombatants died.

Apparently, even Atofe was capable of that kind of judgment, although obviously Moore had been the one to strategize it that way.

“I break, your house. But your no-fighters, I leave. Even.”

I didn’t say anything.

“Ogres protect kingdom. Kingdom admit, lost to you. Me ogre chief. No more reason to fight. Make peace.”

He wasn’t going to forgive Atofe for attacking the village. He’d attacked the office. At the same time, he hadn’t attacked any noncombatants. We were even. The ogres had a duty to protect the kingdom, but the kingdom had already admitted defeat. As the chief of the ogres, he saw no reason to fight, so he wanted to make peace. Something like that.

“What about Geese? Did he ask something of you?”

“Geese say you destroy kingdom. So I help. But Geese run away. You not destroy. Keep going, kingdom and ogres destroyed.”

Geese had said that I was going to destroy the Biheiril Kingdom. I hadn’t done it, and not only that, but Geese had fled. If this went on, the kingdom and the ogres would both be destroyed without a doubt.

“Geese lied. No more trust.”

I hadn’t destroyed the kingdom. It was all Geese’s lies.

“I surrender. Me, ready to die. But no-fighters, please spare.” With that, the Ogre God prostrated his massive bulk on the ground. It was like a kowtow. The young ogres around us were all silent. They must have thought I’d probably kill the Ogre God there. Obviously, you killed your enemy. Even though they didn’t like it, they were going to go along with it. The Ogre God would die, and they would live on. What was with the tragic nobility? Then, I understood. The kingdom had admitted defeat, which meant the Ogre God and the others had no backup. My side was stronger. Should we decide to fight, we could trample Ogre Island… Not that I saw much point in that.

Anyway. Should I kill him? Or not? The Ogre God had said he wouldn’t trust Geese anymore. He didn’t strike me as a man who lied, so I’d trust him. He wasn’t eloquent, but he didn’t seem stupid. If I’d interpreted what he said correctly, it was all clearly reasoned. He had a higher IQ than a certain immortal demon king.

But if he were smart, he might be lying.

I thought for a minute, then asked him one last question. “Master Ogre God, you’re not a disciple of the Man-God, are you?”

“No. Geese say Man-God’s name. Me not know. Even if I know, island precious.”

The Ogre God’s gaze was clear and powerfully direct. If he was lying, I could never trust anything again.

“Then I accept,” I said. The relief from around us was palpable. I should let him live. That would be better for later.

“One thing though, Master Ogre God. I want you to fight against Geese. I’d hate to do it, but if you run or betray me, I’ll attack the island.”

If we were thinking about foiling Geese’s trap, this was our best shot. The Ogre God’s connection to the ogres ran deep. I didn’t like making threats, but I couldn’t have him betraying me at the eleventh hour.

“Understood. I fight alone?”

“No, with us.”

“And I die, what of no-fighters?”

“In regard to the surviving ogres, one of us…well, whoever survives will take responsibility for their care.”

“Not lie.” The Ogre God nodded. With that, the young ogre from before poured more soy sauce into the Ogre God’s cup and more alcohol into mine. He raised his cup and I, copying him again, raised mine.

“On the ogre’s horns.”

“…On the name of the Dragon God.” I said it at random, but the Ogre God looked at me dead serious and nodded with a grunt of agreement. Then, he drained his cup.

So concluded our war with the Ogre God.

***

That night, there was a banquet on the coast near Heirelil. The ogres hauled their liquor up from the cellar and served it up to everyone, us included. It turned out the ogres had a custom of sharing a drink after making up with an opponent after a battle. They drank and washed the slate clean. That was ogre-style peacemaking.

At the ogres’ encouragement, I put back a good number of drinks. Halfway through the night, when I couldn’t take any more, I left the floor to Atofe. A drinking competition was underway between her and the ogres, so she was welcome to keep the party going.

All the drinking had made me feel sick, so I used an antidote to relieve the nausea and then wandered through the banquet for a while. It hit me that a certain person wasn’t there, so I made my way to the shore. There I found Sandor, drinking alone.

“Ah, well met,” he said.

“Mind if I sit down?”

“Not at all.” I sat down next to him and let out a breath. What was he thinking about, all the way over here? I could guess, even in my current dulled state. He was thinking about Alec. At the last, he had called Alec to surrender. Even as North God, when he faced down his son, he couldn’t have wanted to kill him. That didn’t mean I was about to apologize for doing the deed. If I’d backed out of that fight and let Alec go, we might not have been having this banquet. The North God could have met up with Geese, teamed up with the Ogre God, and attacked us yet again. Despite his pondering, I didn’t get the impression that Sandor thought my call was wrong. He hadn’t said anything, but he wouldn’t let his feelings get in the way of his judgment.

“It’s too bad about Alec.”

“Yes.”

Being right was one thing. Staying quiet about it was another.

“That boy… He was always talented. Put a sword in his hands and no one could wield it better. When he fought monsters, he saw their weak points straight away. No one in his generation could best him.”

I didn’t say anything.

“I had high expectations, you know. I told him to take the King Dragon Blade and the name of North God. I wonder if that wasn’t a mistake.”

Alec had been caught up in fantasies of heroism to the point of obsession.

“At the end of the day, North God is only a name. He lost his way.” Sandor drained his glass.

I had nothing I could say to him. With more experience under his belt, he would have acquired what he needed to merit the North God name. I couldn’t say that to him. Alec was gone.

“What’s done is done. It’ll weigh on me for a while, but you needn’t worry about it, Master Rudeus. It was battle, no more than that.”

“…Do you think so?”

“I hear you have a lot of children. Well…someday, you may reckon with it yourself.”

The feelings of a parent outliving their child were still unknown to me. I hoped they would stay that way.

“Anyway. I hope you’ll mourn my son.”

“I will.”

Our conversation petered out. I heard the crash of the waves before us and reveling voices behind us. Chatter about the last battle backed with celebratory music; it drove home that the battle was really over. We hadn’t defeated Geese, or even seen him. Even so, it was over. That cast a slight cloud of unease over the finished battle. The fight had ended up being close to a clean sweep, but there’d been a lot of close calls where luck had determined the outcome. What about next time? Could we repeat this time’s performance and win? That was asking a lot. Geese would be back with a new plan before long.

“I wonder who the Man-God’s final disciple is,” was what I said in the end. It wasn’t the Sword God, or the North God, and apparently not the Ogre God either. If Geese and Abyssal King Vita were our known quantities, then there was one more currently eluding me. The Ogre God had said that Geese had fled. If my predictions were correct, he’d have taken whoever didn’t show up in the last fight and got out of here, keeping his forces intact for next time. Something nagged at me, though, something I had to be forgetting; one missing piece. There should have been someone else who seemed like a disciple, and I should have heard something about possible candidates. Nothing had come up.

“Indeed. To be honest, I have no idea either. Perhaps there’s a different disciple working in a different place.”

A different disciple in a different place? At that, I thought of my house. The Ogre God hadn’t attacked it, but someone else could have moved on it. We still had no way of getting home. We’d made peace here…but it took longer than planned. War could have broken out in Sharia as we sat around basking in our victory.

I sighed. It was no good stewing on it. I was worried, but I had to leave things in Sharia to the people in Sharia. Only, I didn’t want to know what it felt like to lose a child. I was fighting because I didn’t want to know that feeling.

I took another drink and gulped it down to wash those worries away. I wanted to get home soon.

“What’s that?” Sandor looked up. His gaze was pointed out at the ocean. “There’s something there, isn’t there?”

I looked too. It was night, and the ocean was totally dark. I couldn’t see anything. There was nothing but the sound of the waves. I peered out with the Eye of Distant Sight but still couldn’t see anything.

“Whereabouts?” I asked.

“Look. There. It’s getting closer.” My eyes still couldn’t make out anything. I strained my vision for a while, but still nothing. Maybe Sandor was drunk and seeing things.

“Should I get a light?” I suggested.

“…Can you not see it?”

“I can’t see anything. Maybe your eyes are just too good, Sandor.”

Sandor frowned, dubious. Fair, I couldn’t really talk when I had the Eye of Distant Sight. Maybe I was looking the wrong way because I was drunk. Could it be higher up?

“…It can’t be! Master Rudeus, close your demon eyes!”

“Huh? Oh, um, okay.” I closed my eyes.

“Not like that, stop putting magic into your demon eyes! Absolutely nothing!”

I didn’t reply but did what he said and cut off the magic to the demon eyes, both the Demon Eye of Foresight and the Eye of Distant Sight. Now I was seeing with my normal eyes.

“…What.” I saw it! Something was rising out of the ocean onto the beach right there. They were big. Two and a half meters…about the same height as the Ogre God. They wore golden armor. They had six arms. On their shoulder…on their shoulder was a person. The person, wearing a robe with a strange design, lowered the hood of that robe to reveal an all-too-familiar face.

“Well, well! Fancy running into you here, boss!”

It was a man with a monkey face.

Geese. Geese Nukadia!

“Aw, shucks. Here I thought we’d get onto land without you spotting us, yet here you are. No luck, eh?”

“Fwahahaha! You should always expect your plans to go awry!”

“Heh, if that ain’t the truth.”

The man in golden armor answered Geese’s jibe. I recognized that voice. I could never forget that laugh.

“Lord Badi…” I said.

It was Badigadi.

Why is he here? Why’s he wearing that? Why’s he with Geese? Did the Ogre God betray us? Did Sandor call them? Surely not, but…come on…what?

A million different thoughts raced about my mind but couldn’t coalesce into words. An unfathomable tremor rose from deep within my body. That golden armor was bad news. I didn’t know in precisely what way, but I could tell it was sinister. This was an opponent who’d kill me in an instant if I fought as I was.

“It’s been too long, Rudeus! You too, Alex!”

Sandor was staring blankly, but his brow glistened with sweat. I got the sense that he felt he had to attack now, but he couldn’t move.

“Uncle. What brings you here?”

“What else? I am a disciple of the Man-God!” Badigadi declared. Without hesitation, with his head held high, he said that he was the final disciple.

“…Right.”

So that was it. It made sense. Hadn’t everyone else implied as much? Both Orsted and Kishirika had told me there was a good chance that Badi was a disciple. The one who had brought Ruijerd to the Superd Village was none other than Badigadi. How had I forgotten? I felt the last piece fit into place.

“At the Man-God’s request, I delivered Ruijerd to the Superd Village. Then, in preparation for battle, I went to get this armor from where it had sunk in the middle of the ocean. You have nowhere to run! And so Abyssal King Vita, the Sword God, the North God, and the Ogre God, and I, with our powers combined, will defeat you and Dragon King Orsted—”

“Whoa, whoa, buddy!”

“Whassat now? Just when I was getting into my stride…”

“Too much chatter. There ain’t no need to tell ’em that much.”

“Blegh, you’re no fun. What point is there in having a plan for if not to gloat over revealing it at the end?” 

Geese scratched his face and shrugged helplessly.

With what Badi said, it all fell into place for me. I’d been right. The Sword God, the North God, and the Ogre God weren’t the Man-God’s disciples. If I’d let North God Kalman III go, the battle would have continued. The hunting party wouldn’t have disbanded. We’d still be caught up in a standoff in the forest.

Meanwhile, these two would have arrived at Ogre Island. They’d have cleared out Atofe’s personal guard and relieved the Ogre God’s fears. Fighting just the North God and the Ogre God had been hard enough. If Badi had joined them, we’d have been doomed.

Now it was different. Abyssal King Vita was dead. The Sword God, dead. The North God, dead. The Ogre God had withdrawn. We only had to contend with Geese and Badi.

“Oh yeah, I know all about it, Boss. The Man-God told me about how you won in the forest. Bet you think we haven’t got a hope, traipsing in now.”

Geese wouldn’t be of any use in a fight. That meant we could win… We could win, right? Why was he so relaxed?

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. This gent here, he’s a living legend, y’know?”

At the word “legend,” Badi leaned back with a swagger.

“Four thousand and two hundred years ago, I, the strongest of the demon kings, took Demonic Dragon King Laplace down with me…”

I gulped. Badi’s armor, as though to make its presence known, began to glow. “I am Fighting God Badigadi. I can take you by myself.”

Of course. Of course. That was the Fighting God armor. His whole body radiated an unnatural aura. It was like the chill I’d felt facing down Orsted when he was fighting in earnest. I instinctively knew I couldn’t win.

Just then, Badigadi unfolded his arms and spread them wide. “I am Fighting God Badigadi! Servant of the Dragon God, Rudeus ‘Quagmi—’!”

“I am Alex Kalman Rybak, North God Kalman II! Immortal Demon King Badigadi, I challenge you to single combat! On the honor of the immortal demons, I trust you will honor my challenge!”

Badi froze. Then, he looked at Geese beside him with a conflicted expression.

“Hrmm… I was going to challenge Rudeus to a duel.”

“Just turn him down.”

“I can’t do that. It is an age-old rule that a demon king cannot turn down a challenge.”

Geese looked like he couldn’t believe his ears.

Who knew how much control the Man-God had over Badi, but Geese at least didn’t have Badi fully under his thumb. Not that I had any confidence I could control the likes of Badigadi and Atofe.

“Master Rudeus.” While they talked, Sandor whispered in my ear. “I will buy you time. While I do that, please fall back, gather your forces, and work out a plan.”

“What about you?”

“I will die here.”

My breath caught. I couldn’t muster a response right away. I finally managed to nod. Right now, I wasn’t armed. The Version One was near at hand, but I wasn’t wearing it. This wasn’t a question of safety margins. I had absolutely zero chance of winning. Even if I fought alongside Sandor, I’d only get in his way. There were nothing but cons to my fighting here, no pros.

“Thank you,” I said, then I ran back toward the village.

Behind me the ferocious clash of swords echoed.